Organizing Thoughts While Writing

Most writers I coach have a problem organizing their ideas, first into pages, then into chapters. It's understandable -- if you're dealing with a 300-page book, there are a lot of ideas to get down.

My advice: write chronologically. If it's a memoir, that's easy. Begin Chapter 1 with your first day on the job, or go back further and begin with your relationship with your successful father and what he taught you. Upon revision, you can go back and change the order to be more clever. But for a rough draft, it's so much easier on you as a writer to get it down in chronological order.

What about a business self-help book? How does the chronological rule apply? First, look at each chapter as a theme. With a book on management, some themes might include "Hiring" and "Morale" and "Retaining staff" and "Training". Think, could these be seen in a chronological way? Does hiring fall before training? Morale before retaining staff? Even themes can be chronological.

Then, when you're writing chapters, begin at the beginning. Let's say you're writing a memoir; you've come from humble beginnings and now you're CEO of your own wildly successful firm. Begin at the beginning means a chapter on humble beginnings. That's great, you say, but that encompasses years, how do I boil it down? I ask all clients, what story from your youth or early adulthood sticks in your mind? What story do you seem to tell over and over? What event seems to exemplify "humble beginnings"? This event from your youth is sticking in your mind because it is full of character, setting, theme; it is full of pathos. Write it down and go from there. Work chronologically forward. The entire book could simply be a chronological compilation of such stories from youth to present.

Whatever the book you're writing, think chronologically. Every book needs a thorough revision process, and during revision you can play with the order for dramatic affect. The first draft is known as the rough draft. Don't sweat the rough draft. Just get the words out of your head and onto the page. The easiest way to do that is to keep it simple, to keep it linear.

Even if you're not writing fiction, read Stephen King's book On Writing for more insights into the writing process.

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